Naperville girl all smiles as batteries take center stage

Monday was supposed to be Sophie Michael's big day to hand out presents to sick kids at Children's Memorial Hospital.

But the 7-year-old Naperville girl's journey never made it beyond the lobby of the Chicago hospital.

Sophie was chosen last month as Duracell's holiday ambassador for its "Power A Smile" campaign, an event that's part publicity for the battery company and part charity effort on behalf of six children's hospitals across the country.

Sophie's designation came with a $500 shopping spree and a free trip to New York to meet Abigail Breslin, star of "Little Miss Sunshine."

In exchange, Sophie spent Monday morning in a hospital lobby posing for pictures -- with plenty of batteries posed on her lap.

What was touted by Duracell as a goodwill event in which Sophie would "deliver toys and batteries to the hospital and meeting children" became largely a photo opportunity for the battery company.

"We want to tie everything into one picture: the kids, the batteries, the toys and the hospital," said Tim Boyle, a freelance photographer hired by the media relations company working for Duracell, as he spoke to two Duracell reps. "That's the story today, the batteries."

To further that cause and lend to the choreographed photo-op, the logos of a Radio Flyer wagon were pasted over with Duracell stickers touting the "Power A Smile" campaign.

There were plenty of battery-powered toys in the wagon, as well as freshly stocked batteries.

As for the kids Sophie was supposed to meet, there was one other girl in the shoot.

Eleven-year-old Jocelyn Bellamy of Portage, Ind., and her mother, Jessica, happened to be standing in the lobby as the hospital and Duracell staff prepared for the shoot.

"We were just standing around, and they just pulled us in," Jessica Bellamy said. Mother and daughter traveled to the hospital for a CAT scan that was to be performed on Jocelyn's hip.

"It seemed like it could be a lot of fun," Jessica Bellamy said.

As the girls sat alongside the wagon, Boyle snapped dozens of shots of the girls either handing each other batteries or simply smiling while holding the toys with the batteries prominently displayed in the photo.

Several boxes of toys were left for the hospital.

Chris James, a spokesman for Children's Memorial, said the gifts will be distributed to patients in the coming weeks.

As for the donated money to be funneled to the six children's hospitals, 90 percent will be given to the Mattel Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, according to Duracell's "Power A Smile" campaign Web site.

It isn't clear how much money ultimately will be donated to Children's Memorial Hospital.

Neveen Michael, Sophie's mother, seemed to take Monday's event in stride.

"I thought Sophie was going to be meeting with a lot more kids," she said. "Duracell definitely is doing a great thing, so they could have done a lot more publicity. They're really not getting a thing out of this."